Saturday, January 5, 2008

It's been SO LONG since I've checked in. I think having the holidays behind us now will help. We've also just gone through the "one year mark" of Brent's going to his HEAVENLY HOME. It was all so hard, but I've learned that if we give it to GOD EVERY DAY HE WILL carry our burdens. Even better than that... HE WILL CARRY US!

I do hope to get back into a routine of updating here and on Brent's site. You all have been so sweet and supportive. I hope in time to visit each of you at your blogs. I'm still relatively new to the blogging world (although I kept up our son's site for almost 3 years now). Somehow "blogging" is different. At any rate.. I do look forward to vising you all and making even more new friends. (Perhaps a better way to put it is "meeting my sisters in Christ?" =-)

Okay.. so I saw something really neat on AOL the other day and wanted to share it here. GOD'S "handiwork" just BLOWS me away! I KNOW you'll enjoy the pictures too! (The pictures AND the information on them was taken directly from AOL)

I pray you have a WONDERFUL weekend! Prepared to have your socks knocked OFF!

Even galaxies get bullied. Here, a so-called "death star galaxy" blasts a nearby galaxy with a jet of energy. Scientists said that if this happened in the Milky Way, it would likely destroy all life on Earth.

Feel like you are being watched? This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Helix nebula, a cosmic starlet notable for its vivid colors and eerie resemblance to a giant eye.

The Cassini spacecraft's 2005 flyby of Saturn's moon Hyperion reveal its sponge-textured surface. This image was colored to bring out the surface's details. Hyperion has a notably reddish tint when viewed in natural color.

This star is ending its life by casting off its outer layers of gas, forming a cocoon around the star's remaining core. The burned-out star, called a white dwarf, is the white dot in the center.

Though Jupiter looks like it has a mild case of the measles, the five spots scattered across the upper half of the planet are actually a rare alignment of some of Jupiter's moons and the shadows they are casting.

Here, bright blue newly formed stars are blowing a cavity in the center of a star-forming region and eroding the outer portions of the nebula, with numerous galaxies delivering a grand backdrop for the stellar newcomers.

The small open star cluster lies in the core of the large emission nebula in Sagittarius, about 8,000 light-years away from Earth. Some of the stars in this cluster are extremely massive and emit intense ultraviolet radiation.

Hubble Heritage Team / ESA / NASA This is one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble's cameras, a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of a star's birth and death is taking place.

ESA / NASA These are views of an unusual phenomenon called a light echo. Light from an erupted star continues outward through a cloud of dust surrounding the star. The light reflects or "echoes" off the dust and then travels to Earth.

NASA / AP This eerie-looking Eagle Nebula, a tall, dense tower of gas, is one of three-quarters of a million photos of the cosmos taken by the Hubble Telescope

Getty Images This image of the Whirlpool Galaxy is one of the sharpest Hubble has ever produced. The telescope has obited the Earth for 15 years and has taken more than 700,000 images of the comos.

This is one of the universe's most photogenic galaxies, the Sombrero Galaxy. Its hallmark is a brilliant white, bulbous core encircled by thick dust lanes comprising the spiral structure of the galaxy.

Resembling the fury of a raging sea, this is actually a bubbly ocean of glowing hydrogen gas and small amounts of other elements such as oxygen and sulfur within the Omega or Swan Nebula

JPL / NASA

This dramatic shot of the Orion Nebula offers a peek inside a cavern of roiling dust and gas where thousands of stars are forming. More than 3,000 stars appear here, some of which have never been seen in visible light.

Jeff Hester, Arizona State University / ESA / NASA

The Crab Nebula is a six-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a star's supernova explosion. Japanese and Chinese astronomers witnessed this violent event in 1054.

Dan Bayer, The Hutchinson News / AP

Comet Hale-Bopp passes over a rural Rice County, Kan., windmill, just north of Hutchinson, Kan., on Thurday, March 27, 1997

STScI / ESA / NASA

The Hubble Space Telescope "caught" the Boomerang Nebula, which is a reflecting cloud of dust and gas with two nearly symmetric lobes of matter that are being ejected from a central star.

NASA

This nebula is the glowing remains of a dying, sun-like star. This stellar relic is called the Eskimo Nebula because, when viewed through ground-based telescopes, it resembles a face surrounded by a fur parka.

ST-ECF, ESA / NASA

A pair of huge interstellar "twisters" -- eerie funnels reminiscent of terrestrial tornadoes -- are seen in the heart of the Lagoon Nebula about 5,000 light-years from Earth.

Peter Tuthill, Palomar / Keck

The Red Square is among the most symmetrical objects ever observed. It was created by a dying star spewing its innards from opposite poles into space.

Romans 1:19-20New Living Translation

19 They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Tonya,I've been on your caringbridge site for a while. You might remember me as I e-mailed you last summer about my sister moving down to Mississippi and you gave me a map of where you and she lived. I still hope to do a road trip in the next 3 1/2 years they are stationed in Biloxi. I just wanted to say hello and say that your blog is great. I love reading your updates on the CB site but have found such wisdom and inspiration on this site. I love hearing about the boys and can definately relate with three children of my own. Blessings to your family!

Isaiah 26:3-4 (New Living Translation)

3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You! 4 Trust in the Lordalways, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.

Our Sweet Brent (at 11)

10/28/1995 - 01/02/07

Brent's Story...

Our son Brent suddenly started to complain with back pain in the fall of 2004. He was playing flag football with the town league and loved to roughhouse with his two younger brothers so the pain was dismissed at first. After having him tested for kidney and bladder infections and finding him clear we finally asked for an MRI of his back. A couple of weeks later (the very day of the MRI) we received a phone call from his doctor saying that a tumor was found in his pelvic area. We were asked how quickly we could get him to St. Jude Children's Hospital - we left IMMEDIATELY. Later that same week we got the diagnosis. It was one that we would NEVER, EVER forget. It was Stage IV Neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system. His chances of survival when diagnosed were 1/4 - 1/3. When he relapsed we were reminded there was NO CURE. There was basically no hope of survival... none outside the HOPE we had in JESUS.

Brent fought long and hard. He was a Christian and LOVED his SAVIOR. He NEVER asked "why" or complained. He took each day as it was - a gift from GOD. Brent went HOME to be with the LORD on January 2, 2007. He was 11 years old. If I've EVER had a "hero" in this world.... it would be him.

Zach, Gabe & Me

Zach - at the age of 11

Gabe at age 7 (He's 8 as of 12/21)

Hubby & Me

Psalm 16:7-9

7I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. 8I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely.

Some of My Friends

bandofparents.org - Funding Neuroblastoma Research

FIGHT Neuroblastoma while you SHOP!

This is a cookbook has a recipe of Brent's FAVORITE bread! (Sweet Potato Bread) There's also a picture of him inside with his recipe.

ONE OF OUR FAVORITE CHARITIES, Grab the button for your blog if you'd like!